Joan O'Connell and the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
by Shilo 1890
Summary: This is just my version of the newest Mummy movie with an added character. Major spoilers! Rated for safy. Please no flames. Read and enjoy...
1. Chapter 1 corrected! lol!

I do not own The Mummy...only Joan.

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Alex and Joan O'Connell stood overlooking their excavation site. Alex, twenty, and Joan, eighteen, both playing hooky from their Harvard and Yale educations, stared steadily at the colossus bust of Emperor Er Shi Huangd. Joan cocked her head to the side and stared into the stone eyes of the Emperor.

"Do you suppose the Emperor's real eyes were that cold?" She asked her brother. Alex smiled and patted his sister's shoulder, not answering her question but acknowledging it at least.

Alex, a husky, handsome youth, and Joan, a feisty, blossoming young woman, both shared their mothers heart shaped face and their fathers lopsided smirk. But these were the only common traits they shared. Alex had their father's steel-blue eyes and unruly brown hair. Where as Joan had their mothers dark brown eyes, wavy brown/black hair, and full lips. Neither sibling looked like a evy league college students, especially dressed in their current attire. Alex wore a brown leather jacket over an olive green shirt, and khaki trousers with brown boots. Joan wore a black leather jacket over a fitted white shirt, tight black trousers (much to Alex's annoyance) and black boots that reached her knees. Each carried a satchel of archaeological tools (Alex's slung over his shoulder. Joan's, around her waist.) And their respective weapons at their hips. (Alex, a Browning nine mille-meter, and Joan, a pair of Smith and Wesson Model 10's.)

Alex's had a five-day growth of beard that gave him a more authoritative look then most twenty year old's. Though Joan would never allow him to order her around, this he knew all to well. They had agreed upon the start of the project that they would be equal partners.

From time to time, Alex would refer to pages in a battered, leather bound journal. As Alex did this, Joan watched over the crew of Chinese diggers. The other crew had discovered a pair of stone stairways that indicated a structure was buried under the colossus. With a generous amount of TNT, they had cleared both stairways in a matter of hours.

Looking up from his journal Alex called down, in Mandarin, _"Chu Wah, have you found the door to that tomb yet?" _The digger, who was not much younger then Joan herself, looked up and called back, also in Mandarin, _"No Boss! Still looking!"_

From behind them echoed a distant voice: "Alex and Joan O'Connell…!"

"Great!" Joan groaned under her breath. "Wilson's back!"

"Be nice, Joan!" Alex chided his sister. It was no secret that she didn't trust Professor Wilson. Not even Joan, herself knew why, she just didn't. But she wasn't going to let Alex go off to China with Wilson without her as backup. Unbeknownst to her, Alex also had an ulterior motive for bringing her along. He wanted her there of course, but he also didn't want her to rat him out to their parents.

Joan rolled her eyes and called down to the workers in Mandarin as well. _"The _'Professor' _will pay one hundred U.S. dollars to the man who discovers the entrance!"_

Alex chuckled under his breath at the cheers that came from the workers.

"And what if Wilson doesn't have said 100?"

"Alex…" Joan said in a soothing voice. "Just look at how motivated they are now!"

Alex shook his head and nudged her shoulder. "Just pray that the guy who finds it doesn't get killed." The siblings smiled at each other and walked off to meet Roger Wilson.

Wilson, a balding, white-haired man in his early sixties, wore a white shirt with suspenders and chinos, and he too was layered with the dust of these near desert like conditions. He received a warm hug from Alex, patting him on the back and smiling. Wilson then turned to Joan with outstretched arms. Joan accepted the hug reluctantly, putting on a convincing façade of warmth and care like her brother.

"What a relief you are here." Alex grinned at his sister and Wilson, grateful that she wasn't being rude. "You're a couple of days late, Professor- we were beginning to think you'd run into bandits."

Joan looked over to Alex with a look that dripped 'if only we where that lucky.'

"I appreciate your concern, dear boy," Wilson said "But it was nothing so glamorous- we simply had some minor difficulties lining up proper supplies."

"Oh what a shame." Joan said with a frown. Wilson thought she had meant she was sorry he had difficulties, but Alex knew what she really meant and shot her a glare.

Alex handed his mentor a canteen and the man gulped from it, then the professor's eyes took in the excavation that had been made in his absence. "Very good, you two. Fine work indeed."

"Thank you, sir" Alex said proudly. Joan just nodded.

Wilson put a hand on each O'Connell's shoulder. "You know, when I saw you both standing on that mound, surveying your kingdom, so to speak…" He chuckled. "…I thought for a moment there I was looking at your parents. You are _definitely_ Rick and Evelyn O'Connell's children."

Joan couldn't help but grin; she loved it when people said that she looked like her mother. But of course Alex had to go and ruin her moment of pride by saying, "Let us hope after _this_ discovery, they will be known as _Alex and Joan O'Connell's _mother and father."

"What a powerful gaze our friend has…" Wilson said as he looked at the exposed head of the Emperor. "…My colleagues at the museum were of course thrilled when I told them you'd discovered the Er Shi Huangdi Colossus, but they have the, uh, well, _usual_ questions expected from those who fund such expeditions."

Alex smirked. "They want to know when we are going to find the tomb." Joan carried on where Alex left off. "They want us to get in there and find the good stuff for them."

Wilson smiled at the sibling's frustrations, both not realizing that the professor found it amusing when they spoke idiomatically like their father in the cultured accent of their mother.

"Dear boy… and girl," Wilson began placing a hand on their shoulders, "you can't let the bureaucrats get you down. Not if you want to last in _this_ game…you'll find the entrance, I know you will. I have the utmost confidence in both of you."

Alex grinned. "Thanks, Professor. You believing in us, well…it means a lot. Right Joan?"

Joan smiled a convincing smile. "Of course."

Alex and Wilson's eyes met and Wilson smiled at his protégé. Alex wondered why his own father didn't treat him with this kind of respect or warmth.

The moment was broken by a shout from below. Joan pulled Alex's arm so that they could see into the pit and saw Chu Wah looking up excitedly as he pointed to the tomb's entrance, at the bottom of the cliff of earth they'd excavated below the partially exposed Colossus.

"_Boss!" _Chu Wah yelled in Mandarin. _"I found the door boss!" _Then in English: "I get the hundred smackers, right?"

Joan and Alex laughed. "Indeed you do, Chu Wah!" Joan yelled down to him.

"Grab the dynamite!" Joan told Wilson "They've found the entrance…and by the way, you owe Chu Wah a hundred bucks."

"I do?"

"You do."

Alex chuckled and shook his head at his sister. "You are horrible."

"At least I know how to motivate a man." Joan said quietly enough for only Alex and Wilson to hear. This caused both men to explode with laughter.

Joan smiled to herself, grabbing her satchel before charging off, leaving Wilson to ask Alex how he had incurred this debt, not having been there.

"Professor, do you really have to ask?" Alex said placing his journal into his satchel and smiling after his sister.

"No, I suppose not." Wilson chuckled as Alex raced after his sister.

Within minutes the O'Connell's were back, and moved Wilson to a safe position, and advised him to cover his ears, which he did, as did Joan and Alex. Then a huge explosion sent dirt and rock spewing upward.

Both O'Connell's grinned at each other, before Alex looked to the professor. "You ready to make history, Professor?"

Wilson chuckled. "Indeed I am. I have waited a very, very long _time_ to make it…"

And they walked toward the stairs that had been installed over two thousand years before, by slaves whose bones had become one with the earth the modern-day diggers had just disrupted.

Both Alex and Joan held flashlights in their hands, Alex and Joan led the way into the tomb with Wilson just behind them, followed by Chu Wah and a pair of Chinese diggers. Daylight slanted in through the deadfall of beams and structure caused by the blast. Despite the dynamite-created clutter, the space was too large and too dark to see much of anything. No one had set foot in here for many centuries…

…So why did both Alex and Joan sense something was wrong?

"_Move!" _Joan said, but Wilson froze, and Alex had to grab him by the shirt and yank him forward, just as two wooden arms, each affixed with a spiked plate, swung down from the ceiling, smacking together like huge cymbals right where the professor, his prize pupil and his prize pupil's sister had been standing.

Alex looked at Joan who blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Apparently the Emperor wasn't big on houseguests." Alex said causing Joan to smirk. "Really? You think?" She said before Alex went on to say, in Mandarin, _"Stay together!"_

They cautiously descended a long, wide stone stairway with many massive stone beams at landings every dozen steps or so. Alex had Joan stand so close next to him; one would have thought they were conjoined twins. Ahead of them Joan saw a shadowy figure, mostly hidden by a beam just below them, who seemed as if it were standing waiting for them, positioned to pick them off. Joan nudged Alex and nodded to the figure. Alex stopped the rest of the party with an upraised hand.

O'Connell's removed their sidearm's and Alex called, "You can come out now. We see you."

No answer.

Joan looked to the others and motioned them to stay put. Then Alex and Joan went down to the pillar. Joan and Alex cocked their guns; the sharp sounds seemed defining in the silent room. Alex motioned for Joan to go around one way while he went the other. With their guns leading the way, both could see the figure standing there, but slumped; and then their flashlights showed them who-or what- there one man welcoming committee really was: a corpse. Upon seeing it, Joan gasped. The skelington head was bowed under a safari hat, the very old corpse was stuck to the beam, impaled by an Oriental throwing knife. On the rotting khaki shirt were initials: _CB._

Alex went over to Joan and hugged her to him. "It's all right!" He called, his voice echoing, and the others joined them by the pillar. Alex looked over at Wilson, who was patting Joan's shoulder. "It's Sir Colin Bembridge, I am almost certain."

Wilson frowned. "How in God's name did he get in here?"

"I don't know. Must be a way in we don't know about."

The head of the Bembridge Scholars was known to have gone searching for the tomb of Er Shi Huangdi, making several expeditions, the last one some seventy years ago, from which he never returned.

"Well," Wilson said, nodding toward Alex's satchel, "you can thank the old boy for that journal of his."

Alex nodded, if he hadn't discovered the long forgotten book in the archives of the library at Harvard, this expedition wouldn't have happened.

"Thanks." Alex said softly to the corpse before holding Joan out to him at arms length. "You alright to go on?" He asked. "Do you want me to have Chu Wah take you back up top?"

Joan looked up at him and shook her head. "No, I am fine." She smiled, "your not getting rid of me that easily, brother dearest."

Alex chuckled before going on, "somebody left him here," Joan and Alex's gut's wrenching with sympathy for the poor bastard, "as a warning."

"Unfortunately for Sir Collin," Wilson said, "he's not the dead man we're looking for. _He_ won't make us rich and famous…Let's keep moving, shall we?"

Joan didn't like Wilson's lack of sympathy for Sir Collin. If she didn't hate him before, she did now. 'Cold heartless basted' she thought to herself.

Alex nodded, but his next step depressed the floor tile, setting something strange and wonderful into motion: dumping accumulated sand, skylights slid back one by one, allowing shafts of sunlight to cascade down, thanks to the dynamite clearing away so much of the roof of the mausoleum.

Now the awestruck group got a sense of the enormity of their find. The space was vast and entirely covered by terra-cotta warriors, many with terra-cotta horses, standing at attention and lined up on wooden-plank floor to stretch into the dimmest recesses of the tomb. Oddly, the soldiers seemed to face a large open space at their center…

Beside Alex and Joan, Wilson looked from terra-cotta face, to terra-cotta face. "Incredible…" he said in awe, "…no two faces are alike. Can you imagine how long it must have taken to cast all these? What sort of artist they must have had!"

Joan shook her head. "Not artist, if the ancient legends are to be believed- more like sorcerers." Alex nodded in agreement.

"Surely the two of you don't believe that."

But they did. They had reason to. Alex said, "They weren't cast, Professor- trust me, they were cursed."

Wilson snorted a laugh. "Don't tell me you both actually believe such poppycock! What sort of tales did your parents tell you at bedtime? Oh, don't remind me- I've heard the wild stories flying around Cairo about your parents, and mummies being raised from the dead to walk among us."

_They did more then just walk,_ Alex and Joan thought simultaneously. They had both been there- the had been Imhotep's prisoners, and they had fought side by side as children of eight and ten, with their father, to defeat the Mummy and his minions. But in their minds they could see their mother, with her finger to her lips in a _shush_ fashion: "Family secret, you two. Family secret…"

"Professor," Joan said, "You have really got to stop reading _our_ mummy's mummy book's." Alex laughed once, sometimes it frightened him how often they where on the same wavelength.

Wilson, giving the girl an annoyed glance, moved ahead, and both Alex and Joan fell in with him, the Chinese trio behind them. The party walked down the rows of terra-cotta soldiers and horses.

They walked on in complete silence, until Chu Wah stepped on another tile, triggering a blast of green gas that shot up from the floor and into his startled face. He began to choke and gag, and his skin blistering horrifically.

And then he collapsed.

"_Chu Wah!"_

Alex and Joan ran quickly to their loyal crew captain and knelt. Alex checked for a pulse, looking up to Joan he shook his head. Joan turned away and tried to hold back her tears. "Oh my god." She said to herself. Alex went to her side and held her against him.

"Poor bugger." Wilson said frowning.

None of the party could see, nearby in the shadows, an ancient seismograph with bronze balls resting delicately on its lids. The commotion Chu Wah made dying had shaken the lid and the balls thereon, which were now rolling to fall off and into a bronze frog's mouth…

A ratchet sound echoed in the chamber.

Alex rose with Joan from Chu Wah's corpse and looked around as the grinding sound continued. Joan looked up at her brother "That can't be good."

And then it stopped, crossbow bolts _thwacked_ as hundreds of arrows flew from the darkness like machine-gun fire. Alex and Joan where right in their path, and Wilson yelled for them to run, and Alex did, Pushing Joan in front of him, but the digger behind them was nailed by the arrows and pinned to the floor, the sharp arrows ripping through him, killing him before he could even cry out.

High in the dark recesses of the chamber, racks of crossbows on gimbals sent arrows raking blindly to kill any living thing that dared trot the aisles below. Alex ran, Joan several feet ahead. Both knew she was the faster runner, but right now, the adrenalin kept Alex right at Joan's heels. The arrows seemed to be chasing them, flurries of them landing just behind Alex as he ran forward into the darkness. Wilson was running, too, along with the surviving digger.

Then the arrows seemed to have stopped.

But another ratcheting noise announced another volley, this time of razor-sharp throwing disks.

Alex called _"Duck!"_

Wilson dove behind a terra-cotta warrior, who was decapitated in short order. The remaining digger caught a star deep in the chest, and fell back, dead before he hit the floor. Joan ducked and rolled under a nearby terra cotta horse. At the same time, Alex dove as one of the buzz-saw-like disks flew almost close enough to give him the shave he needed. Alex slid next to Joan and tucked her beneath him.

Again the tomb fell quiet.

No one moved for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Wilson peeked out cautiously. He, Alex, and Joan where the only ones left alive, and Alex who had Joan still tucked beneath him, was hidden under a terra-cotta horse.

Alex rose to his feet, pulling Joan with him, and strode out and over to the final of the diggers, on his back with that disk sunk into his chest, blood spreading on this tunic around the steel star. Alex knelt next to the man, and checked his pulse just to bee sure.

"Like I said…" Joan said breathlessly, "…not good at all."

Wilson came up. "He's dead, son. There's not a thing in the world you can do for him."

Joan and Alex stared at the man. They remembered seeing him laughing and drinking with his fellow diggers the night before, vital, alive. "He's dead because of us, Professor. All _three _are dead because of us." Joan said hugging Alex's shoulders.

Alex got to his feet and punched the nearest terra-cotta worrier in the face, crumbling its head.

Wilson took the distraught young mans shoulders and faced him, motioning for Joan to come closer, which she did. Wilson looked at the two sternly. "Danger of this sort comes with the territory. You know that better then most."

Both nodded, swallowing their guilt down so they could get back to the work at hand.

Wilson clapped his hand on Alex's shoulder. "Now! Let's find the crypt, and make sure these poor sods didn't die in vain." The word sod got Wilson a particularly dirty look from Joan who gritted her teeth, trying hard not to lash out at him. Instead she turned away from him, letting her long brown- black hair whip his face.

The three walked into the open central space, the bare area that the terra-cotta warriors were lined in rows to face the center.

Alex walked in a large circle. "They look as if they are waiting for an order from the Emperor."

"Agreed" Wilson, said nodding. "But then…where the bloody hell is he? There's no statue, no coffin. Or did some grave robbers beat us to the prize?"

"I doubt it." Joan looked down as she stepped to the middle of the circle and wiped away the sand with her foot. "He's still here" Joan said, excitement evident in her voice as she knelt down and pulled out an archeological brush. Alex mimicked her movements and the two started to dust off the floor, revealing bowls carved into the floor surrounded by Chinese figures, all inset in a circular stone.

"Ingenious!" Joan announced a huge grin plastered to her face. "They locked the bastard in using the five Chinese elements…" She pointed to each bowl one by one. "Water, Earth, Fire, Metal, and Air!" She looked up to her brother who smiled at her before looking to the Professor.

"It's configured like a compass…" Alex said, giddy as a child in a candy shop.

"A fang shui one!" Joan said slapping her brother on the back laughing.

"Professor, please, shine your torch this way." Alex asked smiling.

Wilson held his flashlight so that the O'Connell's could look at Alex's own compass. "This is true north, but the compass is set in the opposite direction."

"We need to realign it." Joan said looking at Wilson.

Using the bowls for handholds, the three strained to turn the stone. Finally, when the stone clicked into place, an ancient mechanism rumbled…and the entire circular floor split apart like a giant trap door.

Wilson managed to roll off and save himself, but the O'Connell's both fell into the crevasse, Alex taking a nasty hit on the rump of a bronze horse, Joan managed to land in the arms of an impressive bronze statue.

Alex, who had slid off the rump, found himself, looking into someone else's face, someone who had been dead a long time.

Pushing the mummified corpse away, and getting to his feet, Alex looked around hurriedly looking for his sister. His flashlight, landed first on three, seemingly female mummies, intertwined in an embrace. "Bastard had his concubines buried with him." He said under his breath before he heard a moan from behind him. Looking up he saw his sister in the bronze arms of the Emperor. Alex couldn't help but laugh at the sight, "and it looks like he just found himself a brand new one."

"Oh do shut up Alex!" she groaned trying to wriggle out of the Emperor's arms unsuccessfully, causing Alex to laugh even harder. "Will you make yourself useful and get me out of this bastards arms!" she hissed at him, as he made his way up onto the chariot, which held the Emperor's statue, and a crypt.

"Yes, yes, keep your panties on, my dear sweet sister."

Joan glared at Alex; "I would so love to hurt you right now!"

Alex picked his sister out of the statue's arms and smiled. "I love you, too!"

Wilson called down. "Are you both alright?"

"Fine!" Alex chuckled as he set Joan on her feet.

For the first time the O'Connell's got a good look at their find. "Oh…my…God!" they said together.

"What is it?"

"Nothing much Professor." Alex said ginning wide, pulling Joan into a one armed hug. "Just the greatest discovery since our grandfather found King Tut!"

The ceremonial bronze chariot, drawn by four beautiful bronze horses, stood connected to an even larger wagon on which rested an ornate sarcophagus. Commanding the chariot was the slightly oversized statue of the Emperor. Er Shi Huangdi's face radiated a cruelty that caused Joan to shiver slightly.

Above them they could hear Wilson muttering to himself. "Finally…I found it!"

Joan looked over at Alex angrily, "he found it?"

"You know what he means Joan!" Alex hissed as he walked around the sarcophagus.

Joan rolled her eyes. Oh, she knew what he meant. He meant that he was going to give them little, if any, credit for the find. As she fumed, she felt that she and Alex where being watched. No, that wasn't the right word…they were being hunted! Joan spun around, her guns at the ready. Nothing. Alex noticed the quick movement and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing, I guess. Thought I saw something."

Alex placed a hand on her shoulder. "You probably just saw Wilson's shadow or something."

"Yeah," Joan nodded, unsure of herself. "Probably." _Bull shit!_ Joan's subconscious screamed. _You KNOW that something else is in here! _

"Wilson?" Alex yelled up to the Professor. "Are you coming down or are you too stunned to climb down?" Joan looked up but saw no sign of the old man. Wilson didn't answer.

"Wilson?" Joan called up, slightly worried. She may not like the man, but she doesn't want him to die in this place either. Still, no answer. _I swear if he ditched us! _Joan turned to ask her brother where Wilson could be, and found instead saw a masked man kicking Alex in the stomach.

"ALEX!" Joan screamed as the masked man turned on her. "Oh shit!" she mumbled under her breath as her guns where knocked from her hands. The man took a swing at her, only to be blocked by Joan grabbing his arm and flipping the man. Joan tried to ran to Alex's aid, but was pulled to the ground by the man, who kneed her in the stomach before pulling out a blade. Joan grabbed the man's wrist as he aimed for her heart. The man was an equal match for her, skill wise, but he was just a bit stronger then her. The blade he held grazed her throt.

From behind her, Joan heard Alex growl in anger as he tackled the man headlong and knocked him against the bronze horse's leg. The man jumped to his feet with amazing speed and swung his blade at Alex, who ducked just in time, the blade cutting a rope instead. Joan tried to get up but fell again as the sunken platform begain to rise. She looked around for Alex and saw the stranger holding Alex's head over the edge of the platform. Looking up she saw that a stone brick would cut his head off any moment. Jumping to her feet she swung herself over the horses and grabbed her gun from the floor. Jumping just behind the man, she cocked the gun and placed it at the back of the man's head. "Get. Off. Him. Now." Rolling off of Alex, (who rolled the opposite way,) The man jumped up and turned to Joan. Joan's eyes widened when she saw that the man's mask had fallen away to reveal a woman not much older then her. "Holy crap!" The two women stared at each other for a moment when a gunshot rang out from above. Looking up, Joan saw Wilson aiming his gun at the other woman. Wiping her head back around, Joan saw the woman disappear into the terra- cotta worriers.

Joan pushed aside the event and ran to her brother's side. "Alex, are you alright?" Joan pulled his head onto her lap and checked his head for any major injuries.

"No bone's broken" Alex coughed. "How about you?" He grabbed his handkerchief and put it to Joan's neck. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine, just a nick. You get them all the time."

"Yes, but I nick myself shaving." Alex sat up a little and looked at his sister's face. "Well, I guess it could be worse."

"Oh my God!" Wilson cried as the platform came to a halt. "Are you two alright?"

"Perfect." Joan said

"Fine." Alex nodded. "Are you ok Wilson?"

"Never better my boy. Never better." Wilson looked up at the statue with awe.

Getting up and dusting themselves off, Joan and Alex looked at the statue and smiled to each other, pushing the masked woman into the back of their minds.

"Well, what are we waiting for boy's?" Joan smiled clapping Alex on the back. Alex smiled down to her and pulled her into a one armed hug.

"Let's get a move on Professor." Alex said giddy as a schoolgirl. "We've got a lot of work to do."

A/N: Ok so as you probably can see...I did some corrections and I am very sorry for any confusion! That's what I get for writting at 3 am I guess. LOL! I am also sorry that it is takeing me so long to write the next chapter. I do ALOT of resurch before I write anything add that to work, college, homework, and extra cerricular activities...well I hope you understand that it may take some time. BUT I AM WORKING ON IT. I also have to remember a whole lot of crap from the movie and that isn't to easy...LOL! Hope all is well with everyone and thank you all so much for the reviews! Hugs to you! Twilight1890


	2. Chapter 2

Jonathan Carnahan walked around his nightclub, which he had named, ironically enough, Imhotep's, in his blue silk robe. He smiled at the waitresses, whose outfits were based after Anak-Sun-Amun, down to the hair on their heads. One would have thought that Egypt would be the last place Jon would want to base his club after, but it was the most popular in Shanghi. As he mingled with certain costumers, out of the corner of his eye he saw two figures enter the club. He smiled up at his niece and nephew as they descended the stairs into the club, Joan's arm looped through Alex's until they reached the bottom step.

Jon couldn't help but smile at the two, they cleaned up well, Joan in a cherry red jacquard one shoulder dress, and Alex in his white tux. Jon watched as Alex passed by Tanya, who asked him to buy her a drink. Alex seemed all to eager to go after her when Jon went over and started talking to him.

"Alex! How are you my boy?" Jon wrapped his arm around his shoulders and led him to the bar,

Alex looked over his shoulder and saw Tanya winking at him. "Make that two."

"Alex," Jon said hurriedly as Joan came over, a glass of whiskey in her hand, "Let me put this in archaeological terms for you. That one tomb in which many a pharaoh has lain…"

"UNCLE JON!" Joan sputtered as she chocked on her whiskey.

Jon turned sharply and blushed. "Joan! Sorry dear, didn't see you there."

Jon changed the subject, turning it to how their discovery would be in the papers in London, and how their parents would find out and kill him for not telling them.

"Uncle Jon…" Alex said smiling "They won't find out. Besides they are there, we are here. Nothing to worry about."

Joan gave her uncle a look before looking to Alex. "Who you fishing for tonight Alex?"

"Tanya." Jon muttered under his breath.

"What!" Joan's eye's widened. She knew Tanya's reputation all to well. "Alex O'Connell don't even think about it!"

Alex looked at his sister with a confused innocent look. "Think about what?"

"Don't pull that with me Alex! Uncle Jon is right, and if you want to keep all your limbs in tact,  
I suggest you go after someone else!"

Alex smirked at his sister and places a hand on her bare shoulder. "I appreciate your concern Joan, but I can handle myself." With that Alex turned with two drinks in hand and followed Tanya into one of the back rooms.

Joan rolled her eyes and looked at her uncle who shrugged his shoulders. "I better follow him to make sure he doesn't get in any trouble." Jon filled her glass before she followed Alex into the back room.

Jon rubbed the bridge of his nose when he heard someone yell his name. Looking up, he felt his heart skip a beat. _Evy, Rick? Oh bloody hell, why me?_ Jon thought as the two walked up to him.

"Jonathan! How are you?" Evy asked pulling Jon into an embrace, Rick patting his shoulder.

"Rick, Evy, what are you doing here…in China?" Jon's voice was several octaves higher then usual.

"We came to visit you!" Evy smiled releasing him.

"I swear I had no idea they were here!" Jon said, not hearing Evy.

"Who?" Rick said with an amused smile.

Suddenly the doors to the backroom burst open and Alex came flying though, landing on his back on one of the tables near his parents. Joan came running to his side and bent down next to him and helped him up. "Alex! Are you alright?"

"ALEX? JONE?" Their parents said together causing the two siblings to look up, eyes wide in a mix of shock and horror.

"Mum? Dad?" Joan and Alex said back in utter disbelief.

"What are you two doing here?" Evy and Joan asked simultaneously. At that same moment, a large drunk, burly man stalked out of the back room, Tanya and his friends at his heels.

"I'll teach you to mess with my woman!" The man said raising his fist, only to be stopped by Rick's hand.

"Hey, buddy that my kid, back…" Rick cut short looking closely at the man. "Maddog Maguire?"

The man looked at Rick and smiled. "Ricochet O'Connell!?" The two laughed and discussed how long it had been.

"Listen though Rick…" Maddog said looking at Alex. "He may be your kid, but he was messing with my girl. I gotta teach him a lesson!"

"Get out of the way dad!" Alex said trying to get to Maddog.

"Alex!" Joan hissed pulling him back.

Rick looked between Maddog and Alex quickly, "as much as I would like to see you teach him a lesson…"

"His mother would be quite upset!" Evy finished dusting off Alex's jacket, before fussing over Joan. Maddog nodded and said goodbye to Rick before going back into the backroom.

As Evy was yelling at Jonathan, Rick grabbed Joan by the arm, and Alex by the scruff of his neck. "Come 'er you two" Rick growled slightly. Evy following close behind.

"Haven't been in China for tem minutes and I am already pulling your ass out of the fire." Rick said quietly as her turned Joan and Alex to face him and Evy.

"I had everything under control!" Alex protested.

Joan gave him a look and rolled her eyes.

"We're just surprised to see you two, that's all." Evy tried to be diplomatic.

"Why aren't you both at school?" Rick asked

"Well…" Joan explained about the Emperor and Wilson.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Evy asked rubbing Joan's arm

"You are both going back to school!" Rick declared causing both Joan and Alex to roll their eyes.

"Wait!" Evy said putting her hand up. "We should all sit down and discuss this like a family."

"Mum," Alex said sonically, "we haven't been a _family_ for years." Turning on his heel he stormed out of the club before anyone could protest.

"Alex!?" Joan said turning to follow before stopping to look at her parents. She smiled and hugged each of them tenderly. "I am happy to see you both." Rick smiled and kissed the crown of her head before she ran out after Alex.

Alex was waiting for Joan by a Taxi, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Alex?" Joan rubbed his arm, "are you alright?"

"Get in" was all Alex said as he motioned her in first. After climbing in himself, Alex told the driver the address of their hotel and off they went into the shining bright night that was Shanghi.

The Next Night

Alex sat squished between his mother and sister, as Jonathan drove the O'Connell's down the crowded streets toward the Shanghi Museum.

"You first discovery! How exciting!" Evy was all but jumping up and down with excitement.

"I am surprised you even want to see it after Alex's performance last night." Joan said annoyed at her brother.

"You and me both" Alex said surprising her.

"Did you just…agree with me?"

"Yep."

Joan looked outside, nose to the glass. Alex chuckled and asked what she was doing.

"Seeing if pig are flying." Joan said turning to smirk at her brother as the car laughed at Joan's comment.

"I'll drop you off and pick you up in an hour." Jon said as he turned into the Museum entrance.

"Your not coming Uncle Jon?" Joan said frowning.

"Sorry Joan, but I have seen more then enough mummy's for one lifetime."

The O'Connell's chuckled as Rick and Evy got out of the car. Joan reached forward and hugged Jon's neck. "I wish you'd come." She kissed his cheek and slid out of the car. "See you in an hour!" Jon smiled waving as he drove off.

Rick took hold of Joan's arm as Alex took Evy's, and the four ascended the stairs. "I am happy you're here to see this dad." Joan whispered for only him to hear.

"Me too, sweetheart." Rick smiled down at his daughter. He wasn't excited about the dress she wore, a stunning cream colored halter gown, which had a neck line that plunged dangerously low, and was backless down to the waist, but for tonight, he would humor his daughter and lecture her tomorrow. Evy smiled at the sight of the sarcophagus and asked when they would be opening it.

"Three days mum." Joan said smiling when she saw her mothers glowing face.

"Yes," Alex added mirroring his mothers smile, "you should hang around for a few days and come to the reveling."

Next to her, Joan heard her father muttering under his breath, "don't the words rest in peace mean anything to you three?" Joan laughed and nudged his arm playfully.

"Why don't you both go find Wilson?" Rick said suddenly. Joan nodded and grabbed Alex's arm. Behind their backs Evy, gave Rick a look that caused him to stop his kids.

"I just…um…" Rick struggled with the words he wanted to say. _He never was good at being sentimental_, Evy and Joan both thought. "This…all this stuff…it's…uh…it's really great you two."

Alex raised his eyebrow, and chuckled, "whatever you say dad." Putting an arm on her shoulder, Alex started leading Joan to the stairs.

"Oh…" Joan said turning back to her parents. "Just one more thing…" she looked up at Alex with a wicked grin, which returned it knowing what she was going to say.

"Don't wake the big guy up!" Alex and Joan coursed together, earning a look from their parents.

Laughing quietly, they ascended the stairs to find Wilson.

As the walked the halls of the museum, Joan felt as though something was seriously wrong. At one point Alex stopped dead in his tracks and pointed to his left. "Did you see that?"

Joan shook her head but followed her brother anyways down the left hall. As they tuned the corner, they both saw a familiar shape turn the next corner. "The girl from the tomb." Alex whispered as they followed quietly.

Lin stood looking down at Wilson, General Yang, and General Ming Guo, threatening the two older O'Connell's. She contemplated what she should do when a masculine voice spoke behind her.

"You never called after our last date." Lin looked over and saw Alex and Joan staring at her, Alex leaning lazily against the wall.

"Care to explain?" Joan said icily.

"There's no time for games Alex and Joan." Lin said calmly looking back to the events below. Joan and Alex looked at each other confused.

"You know our names," Alex said walking towards her, "but we don't know yours."

"Lin." She said simply.

"Short but sweet," Alex said walking toward Lin. "So, Lin, care to explain why you tried to kill me and my sister?"

"I could," she said, gesturing to the windows with a view of the room below. "Or we could save your parents. I'll leave it up to you."

Joan looked over the rail. Alex joined her. Down below Professor Wilson was using a handgun to move Rick toward the sarcophagus. Two military types, one man one woman, held guns on Evy.

"Wilson you son of a bitch," Alex hissed.

"I hate to say I told you so." Joan said quietly, "what am I saying, I love saying it…I. Told. You. So!" She mocked before she looked at Lin. She was quite stunning in her black long-sleeved dress. Her long black hair pulled into a tight braid.

"You two can whine," Lin said. "Or we can do something about it. Your choice."

Joan didn't know why, but she trusted this strange young woman (and that doesn't happen easily or often), and Lin felt the same way about Joan.

Down below, General Yang faced Evy, who now held the Eye of Shangri-La in her hands.

"Read the inscription." Yang ordered.

"I am afraid ancient Chinese is not my forte," Evy said defiantly.

"Well then, maybe you need some encouragement." Yang looked up and nodded to Wilson, who cocked his pistol.

"STOP!" Evy cried. "I'll do it."

"Evy, don't! They're just going to kill me anyway."

Evy looked at her husband lovingly. "The inscription says only a drop of blood from a person pure of heart can open the Eye."

Yang smiled and grabbed Evy's arm. "And only the pure of heart would sacrifice herself, for the one she loves."

With that Colonel Choi pulled out a knife and made a small cut in Evy's palm.

"Open the sarcophagus!" Wilson ordered Rick, who went to work on prying the lid, creating a nails-on-blackboard grinding that filled the room.

The grinding masked any sound from above as Lin, followed by Alex, followed by Joan, climbed down onto the scaffolding.

When the sight of Choi and Yang forcing Evy's blood to fall on the Eye of Shangri la confirmed their worst suspicions. The blood dripped down onto the Eye and was absorbed into the stone. The Eye seemed to blossom as the decorative snakes clinked to the floor.

Taking the stone, Yang made his way to the emperor. "Once this touches the lips of Er Shi Huangdi, the Emperor will not merely once again walk among us- he will be immortal."

Turning to Wilson, he ordered the two elder O'Connell's to be eliminated. Suddenly, all present where witnesses to a spectacular sight. Alex and Joan O'Connell swung down from opposite corners of the room; Joan landed gracefully in front of Yang and kicked the stone from his hand, sending it flying into the air. The stone hit the back of the bronze statue. Yang slapped Joan in anger, only to get punched back in the face by Evy. "Never. Touch. My. Daughter."

As Evy took on Yang, Joan turned to Choi and saw anger flash in her eyes as she pulled out a pistol. Joan launched herself at Choi and talked her to the floor.

Meanwhile, Lin landed like a cat next to the sarcophagus. Drawing the dragon blade, and did something that would seem highly odd to those around her, had they had been watching.

Jumping in to the coffin, Lin stabbed the heart of a skeleton. Lin then realized that this was not the Emperor. The medallion around the skeletons neck told Lin that this was indeed the body of the Emperor's head eunuch and minister.

Choi gave up on Joan and turned on Evy, crouching low. But what Choi didn't know, was that long ago, in another life, Evy had been the Princess Nefertiti and was just as skilled, if not more so then Choi. So when Evy matched Choi blow for blow, Choi was surprised at her opponent's quickness, dexterity, and skill.

Evy, grabbing the woman flipped her and sent her crashing into a pile of crates.

"This is not Er Shi Huangdi! It's a decoy!" Lin yelled to Joan and Alex.

"WHAT!" They both yelled back. Joan jumping up next to Lin, looked t the body. "Then who the bloody hell is it?"

"A eunuch minister."

"Ouch!" Joan mumbled.

Alex jumped up and looked as well. "Then where is the Emperor?"

"Do I look like I would know?" Lin asked slightly put out.

Behind them the bronze statue of the Emperor began to shake and crack. Joan looked around and pointed. "I think I found him." Lin grabbed Joan by the arm and dove for cover behind a pillar, Alex at their heels. Covering up instinctively, as the statue blasted apart, chunks of bronze flying, revealing a second slightly smaller statue within. Evy and Rick both dove for cover as well, pulling out guns. Then the Emperor took his first breath in two millennia.

"Oh…shit!" Alex and Joan hissed together.

Rick came out from behind a pillar and aimed at the Emperor.

"Here we go again!"

The rest of the O'Connell's all thought the same thing.


	3. Chapter 3

Joanthan, Lin and the four O'Connell's slowly and painfully, slid out of the taxi

I don't own Mummy blah…blah…blah!

Emperor Er Shi Huangdi took in his surroundings and smiled at the bronze horses that stood before him. Suddenly the horses started to move. General Yang stood on a platform to the Emperor's left.

"I have awakened you, my lord. I live to serve you, and to attend to your final transformation. Allow me please to guide you to a safe haven."

The Emperor nodded curtly and Yang jumped onto the back of the chariot.

The Emperor Mummy snatched up the reins and started to whip the bronze steeds. The chariot burst forward and headed for a huge stained glass window directly ahead.

Rick O'Connell held a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver in each hand. Aimed for the Emperor's head. Yet it didn't surprise Rick as much as it pissed him off, when the bullet took off the Emperors ear, only to have it regenerate seconds later.

"Are you kidding me?"

Yang, who was not impervious got grazed in the arm by a ricochet bullet, aimed his own guns at Rick, causing Rick to duck behind a pillar.

In the meantime, another player was chaseing after the chariot. Roger Wilson, his tuxedo covered in dust, had a look of frustration as he perused his ride to fame, yelling, "Wait for me! Wait for _me…!_"

Rick had to admit that for an old SOB, of his age and weight, he was a fast _runner_. Wilson was even able to scramble his way along side the terra cotta Emperor. When the Emperor noticed the strange man attempting to hitch a ride. As he had no reason to recognize Wilson as an ally, the Emperor unsheathed his sword and swung it with a whoosh. The next thing the O'Connell's saw was Wilson's head fall to the floor followed closely by his body.

Unlike Wilson, Alex and Joan had successfully hitched a ride. Lin watched Joan's move, and imitated it. As she slid under the chariot, Joan and Alex held out their hands to pull her up. The three held on for dear life as the four bronze horses burst through the window in a spray of shattering glass. As the chariot landed and made it's way down the busy streets of Shanghai, Alex's, Joan's, and Lin's teeth chattered as if they had been in dipped in ice water.

A few minutes passed when Joan heard a voice that sounded like Jon's yelling something about his car. Looking back she saw that a large gash went down the entire length of the car, and Jon hopping into a truck.

The three carefully moved along the bottom of the chariot, to the rear of the cortege wagon that held the sarcophagus. When Joan looked back once again she saw a large firework heading for the chariot, before suddenly turning off course and into a fruit stand.

Please, let that have been a fluke and not the Emperor! Dad won't know that he has mastery over the elements.

Alex and Lin pulled Joan up and over the back bumper and onto the cortege wagon, where they hunkered down at the foot of the sarcophagus. The pounding hoof beats and the rumble over cobblestones gave them cover to whisper as they discussed a plan.

Alex handed Lin his pistol. "Cover me and my sister. We'll go after the Emperor…"

"Take him by surprise." Joan finished.

Lin handed the weapon back to Alex. "No, _I'll _go after the Emperor."

Alex grinned at her. "Trust us…my sister and I have a little more experience with mummies then you do."

"Only a little?" Joan said smiling.

But Lin insisted. "And _I_ have the only weapon that can kill him!"

Joan and Alex locked eyes. She meant business. And after fighting with her, both siblings were convinced that she could handle herself.

"Okay then…" Joan nodded.

"You win, Lin…this time," Alex joked.

"And last time." Lin said as she crouched under Joan's arm. Joan chuckled slightly at the look on her brother's face.

As Alex and Joan aimed their guns at Yang and the Emperor's back, they suddenly heard a familiar voice come from behind them.

"Alex, Joan…" Rick yelled from the back of one of the bronze steeds. "Come on…jump!"

Alex and Joan signaled their father to back away.

"So much for our surprise…" Lin smirked.

"What can we say…"? Alex said annoyed. "The old man has a hero complex."

Suddenly a gunshot rang out and as the three ducked, they saw what they feared…Yang now knew that they had unwanted passengers.

"_Use your weapon on the fire sticks!"_ the Emperor yelled annoyed.

"Ok…new plan…" Joan said. "We'll lay down cover. You, Lin go up and over. Ready?"

The two nodded. Alex and Joan began laying down fire and Yang ducked for cover while Lin dropped into the sarcophagus. She crawled over the eunuch to the other end of the sarcophagus. Her dragon blade at the ready, she popped up, ready to strike, Lin found herself face to face with Yang, who shot her twice at nearly point-blank range, blowing her back into the sarcophagus.

Both Alex and Joan screamed: "LIN!"

Joan dived into the sarcophagus to see if she could help Lin only to find her unharmed.

"How…Yang…you…but he…shouldn't you be dead or hurt at least?"

Suddenly Alex was crouching next to Joan with a similar look of shock on his face. "Oh, thank God…I thought you were dead!"

"Yang missed."

Alex and Joan didn't have time to contemplate how Yang could have possibly missed at such close range. Joan looked up to see the Emperor looking back at her. _"Release the wagon!"_

Moments later, the three felt the wagon start to spin as the chariot speed away without them. Alex pulled both women on top of him as he laid down flat upon the skeleton.

The audience at the Opera nearby got more then they bargained for as Rick came charging onto the stage atop of a headless bronze horse. And from the back, a large wagon spinning uncontrollably. When the wagon finally came to a stop, Rick yelled for his children, and out of the sarcophagus popped two hands.

"We're ok!" yelled Joan weakly.

"That's debatable." Alex moaned.


End file.
